


Deep End

by Tangerines



Category: Naruto
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Swimming Pools, not from naruto tho dw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:42:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24872488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangerines/pseuds/Tangerines
Summary: For them it's really just sink or swim.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Deep End

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2017 and it was just sitting at the bottom of my google docs and I thought maybe it's about time to pull this out lol. Did a little tweaking to it ofc but my writing may vary so oops.

Sakura never liked loud and crowded places. She never liked swimming either because of a drowning incident in fourth grade. So naturally Ino decided that it was the perfect idea to drag her to watch a swimming tournament that was both loud, crowded and wet.

Ino on the other hand, was always spontaneous and never really cared about where she was going. Although this time around Ino just wanted to find a date or maybe more of a one night stand kinda fun. She ignored the sulking blob of pink beside her and scanned the audience for a decent fuck. Which wasn't too hard when the crowd grew louder as the swim team exited the change rooms.  “I wouldn’t mind taking him home,” the blonde mumbled quietly to herself while ignoring the presence of a very angry Haruno beside her. 

Ino pulled out a compact mirror and a tube of pink lipgloss. She smeared the smooth, glittery gloss across her lips. She rubbed her lips together to evenly spread the gloss and made a loud smacking sound before turning to her friend,“What’s up with you?” she asked. 

Sakura flipped through the pages of her book and remained silent.

Snapping the compact mirror shut, Ino clicked her tongue and grabbed the textbook out of Sakura’s arms, “Why waste your time looking at boring stuff about things you already know when you can look at- holy shit check out number eight.” Sakura followed the direction that Ino was pointing at but she found herself looking at the guy beside swimmer eight. 

Swimmer nine was in a neon orange swim trunk. He had a pack of abs that even Sakura wouldn’t be able to find in a pack of burger buns on sale at the grocery store. Tanned skin, messy blond hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to watch everything but her. 

“Gosh Ino, can’t you just let me study in peace! I don’t see why you need to be so concerned with my business.” Sakura viciously snatched her textbook back. She tugged her bag onto her shoulder and abruptly got up from the bleachers.  The sound of water splashing and loud cheering compelled Sakura to turn around. She glanced towards number nine’s lane and admired the swift, sharp cuts and smooth strokes of his freestyle form.  She stood there and stared for a long time that by the time she realized what she was doing, number nine was already stepping out of the water.

Sakura knew a lot of things. She knew how to knit a scarf, how to bake a pie- only an apple pie for some reason, how to skip rocks and yet Sakura didn’t know a thing about swimming. 

So i t came as a surprise to her that she wanted to learn more when she made eye contact with number nine. Whether it was the sport itself or the man, Sakura shook her head and raced out the door. Pale blue eyes followed her retreating figure. 

~ 

Naruto was familiar with nearly every student on campus. If not maybe the entire town. Not like Konoha was a huge place to begin with but he liked to think of himself as a man of many connections (“You’re just really loud and draw attention to yourself,” Kiba said once). He was a little taken aback to see the girl with bright pink hair and dark green eyes staring at him. She was clutching a textbook like her life depended on it and Naruto recognized the cover. He had seen Ino shoving the same one far down within the depths of her Prada bag. When the girl escaped through the door, he nearly went after her. Some part of him screamed that it wasn't a good idea. A half-naked man chasing after you would seem a little terrifying if not traumatic. 

A bunch of arms grabbed him and raised his body up, followed by hoots and hollers that celebrated his victory. Naruto grinned ear to ear but his eyes continued to linger at the door. He’ll see her later, he was sure of it. It had been three weeks already and Naruto had not seen the girl. He began asking around school clubs and even his friend group, he was even beginning to think he imagined the girl. Naruto didn’t think about the girl again until he ran into her, literally. 

“I got it!” he shouted as he chased after the hurling football. It happened so quickly that it took him a few minutes to realize that he did not have the ball and that he had collided into a very hard and very small figure. Papers and books were scattered around them and Naruto winced as he got up. The girl under him was in no better condition. 

“Sorry! Really I should have looked where I was going you see but like I was just trying to-” his apology came out more like an endless ramble. It stopped when he noticed the mess on the floor. 

Naruto immediately picked her up and bent down to gather all the scattered paper, along with his hurried motions he asked, “Are you okay?!” He handed her the carefully shuffled papers with a smile. 

“Thanks…” she tentatively grabbed it and walked off towards the science department. 

An arm latched onto his neck and forced him into a choke hold, “What’s got you all googly eyes, bud?” 

“Pink hair,” he managed to gasp.  Kiba let go of the blond and patted him on the back. He let out a deep laugh and said, “You mean Sakura? She’s a catch, transferred this year. Nobody knows much about her but she’s friends with Ino.” 

Of course, Ino was friends with everybody. It wasn’t much of a surprise that the Yamanaka took the transfer student under her wing. 

The next time that Naruto saw her, he practically begged her to introduce him to Sakura to which she replied with a dramatic yet well-calculated hair flip and a stern, “No.” 

“But why?” Naruto whined as he followed her across campus. Ino shoved her books in his hands and reached into her bag to grab her lip balm, “Because-” she smacked her lips together, “I’m not playing matchmaker anymore.” 

Taking her books back, Ino looped her arms around his and dragged Naruto along to accompany her on her stroll to her psychology class. She let out a sigh and turned to look at him, “Look, I know you’re a nice guy. Like a really really nice guy and as much as I’d love Sakura to get with someone-” Naruto got excited.

“Not so fast, lover boy,” Ino continued on- “She needs time right now. To grow and to get used to things. Sakura has been through a lot and this is her chance for new beginnings and I don’t want you mucking that up for her.” 

Running his hands through his hair, Naruto nodded, “I get it. But can I be friends with her?” Ino smiled, “Of course. I guess you can, I’ll bring her to the party next Friday okay?” 

“Thank you so much! You’re the best.” He lifted her from the ground and swung her in a circle. 

Ino screeched, “Put me down you fiend!” 

Naruto pecked his childhood friend on the cheek and let her down, “You’re the best!” and skipped off in the opposite direction. 

“You owe me!” She shouted. 

~

“No.” Sakura emphasized for the sixth time that hour.  She buried her face against her pillow, ignoring the blonde. She could practically feel Ino glaring at her. 

“Come on, I wanna go to a party and I want you to come with me. You can make new friends, this party is a good place to start.” Ino whined.  


Rolling down her sleeves, the blonde grabbed Sakura’s ankles and forcibly yanked her off the bed. The Haruno was thrown on the floor. At that moment, Sakura regretted teaching Ino how to lift weights, especially if it meant that she was going to get tossed around like a rag doll. 

“Your clothes are cute.” Ino said as she flipped through the hangers. 

“Tha-” 

“If you wanted to look like a pilgrim or a nun,” the Yamanaka cut in. 

“...nks” Sakura slumped. 

Throwing several articles of clothes on the bed, Ino disappeared to find a pair of shoes. She returned with six pairs of heels and a box of oreos. “Look what I found!” Ino said excitedly. 

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "You raided my kitchen?”  


“Look what I found!” Ino repeated again. She waved the black stilettos around like a trophy to which Sakura vehemently shook her head, “A house party, Ino. Not a whorehouse.” 

The Yamanaka held up a dark green skirt to her face, “Why don’t you wear this with the white blouse I got you two Christmas’ ago?”  If there was another thing to add to the list of Ino’s talents, a good memory and being a pushover was part of it.  They spent thirty minutes and eight seconds bickering back and forth when suddenly Sakura threw her hands up in the air and locked herself in the bathroom. 

“I’m not going and that is final!” 

~

Sakura ended up going. She awkwardly stood in the corner of Kiba’s living room. Her and Ino finally reached a compromise. Sakura would go if she was allowed to pick her outfit and Ino got to choose her shoes, which resulted in a loose burgundy sweater tucked into her jeans and paired with black heeled boots.

_ "There, conservative but chic, class with some ass, a whore that wears more. I don’t know but it’s better than what you had on earlier” said Ino.  _

_ “Don’t diss my Mickey Mouse t-shirt,” grumbled Sakura.  _

Being a great friend she was, Ino left Sakura stranded on a couch that had a three month pizza stain on the side. The party cup full of untouched whisky sat in her hand and the couple making out on the other end of the couch was her only company.

She nervously eyed the two guys beside her and shifted off the couch, things were getting seriously hot and heavy. Sakura moved to open the front door that led to the front porch and sat on the wooden stairs.

A voice startled her from behind, “It’s nice right?”  The person in question sat down beside her and chuckled, “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He scratched the back of his head and extended the other hand to her. 

“Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto.” 

She kept her hands clasped between her thighs, “Haruno Sakura.” 

He recovered from the rejected handshake by folding both hands behind his head. He looked at the sky and said, “The northern lights are nothing compared to Konoha’s boring nights. This will always be my favourite sky.” 

Sakura pulled her legs closer to her chest and rested her chin against her knees and asked, “You think this view is better than the aurora borealis?” 

“Nah, the northern lights are prettier for sure. I just meant that the sky in Konoha is more special to me because it’s the same sky I see when I’m happy, when I’m angry and when I’m sad,” Naruto answered.  “Come on, let’s go for a drive.” He said as he got up. 

Sakura remained seated and continued staring at him, “...what are you doing?” 

“Kidnapping you of course!” he joked, “Besides this party isn’t that interesting anyway.” Sakura looked up at the sky again, maybe it was the thought of having a spontaneous adventure with a stranger or she was truly insane. Either way, she grabbed his hand and allowed him to drag her to his car. 

She let out a laugh when she hopped inside his black Honda, he raised an eyebrow and Sakura replied, “You look like the type to drive a bright orange car that’s all.” 

“I would have painted it orange. I wanted it to be so bright that it’ll hurt your eyes,” he grinned mischievously, “But everyone thought it’d be a bad idea. Ino and Kiba said they’d never talk to me again,” he bulked. 

Naruto started the engine and turned the radio on, he smiled at Sakura again and began driving. A familiar song came on and Sakura turned up the volume. She hummed along. What caught her off guard was when Naruto shouted the chorus. They both laughed. 

“You listen to them?” she asked. 

He shrugged, “I only know about two or three songs.” 

Sakura chuckled, “It’s always been a favourite."

“My best friend used to listen to them as well. That’s how I know them.” Naruto said as he made another turn.  She nodded, it didn’t feel so bad ditching Ino at the party after all. Surprisingly enough, she felt comfortable opening up to Naruto. 

“Do you trust me?” he asked her. 

Sakura looked up at him and she knew that even though it was her first time meeting him she heard sincerity in his voice and saw honesty in his eyes.  “Yes.” 

“Close your eyes,” he led her out of the car and along the unfamiliar ground. She felt her heels grinding against dirt and hard pebbles.  She opened her eyes when Naruto instructed her to and all she saw- well she couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black.

“Naruto what is goin-” suddenly there was a burst of light and she was surrounded by the galaxy. Bright colours and millions of lights began swimming in her vision. 

“This is an old planetarium. Not a lot of people come here anymore.”  He slid into the seat beside her and gazed at the ceiling. 

“We used to come here everyday when we were younger,” he mused, “You’ll probably meet everyone else soon. They’re all good people.” 

“Why did you take me here?” Sakura prompted. 

Naruto looked at her for a long time before giving her a smile that showed off all his teeth, “You looked sad so I thought this might cheer you up.” Sakura didn’t know what to say. 

“My best friend,” he sighed, “You reminded me of my best friend. The first time I met him, he had a look on his face that was very similar to yours. I can’t describe it in words but I wanted to befriend the kid because I wanted to see him happy.”  He shrugged, “We both found this place by accident one day and it’s been our favourite ever since. I hope whatever is going on in your life gets better. I probably have no right to say this but I just have a feeling that you’re strong enough to tackle even the world. You don’t always have to do it alone though.” 

It had been a while since someone last said that to her. When she was nine, her mother told her those exact words the night before she packed her stuff and left the next day. Sakura never saw her again. 

“Come on, let’s get you home.” Without thinking, he offered his hand and to his surprise she grabbed it.  He lifted her up and both of them made their way to his car. It was a quiet ride. They didn’t mind it. Sakura fell asleep halfway and Naruto smiled when he glanced over. 

It wasn’t such a bad start after all. 


End file.
